Solitary Confinement
by To the Wild Rose
Summary: Life has a funny way of playing itself out, especially regarding the ones we care for the most. It was all innocent love...but things fell apart.


**AN: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of the characters in this fan fiction.**

**{-}**

She stared at him. He sat inside the cell with his head inside his hands. Tears streamed down her face as she watched his form from the window. She was confused. Why should she love a murderer? Why should her fate be to fall in love with a man who was condemned to die? He was withering away to nothing inside of the cell. He hid the pain in his eyes, but she knew he felt it in his heart.

Things were complicated. Things were not the same. She kept telling herself it was never meant to be this way, and in truth, it should not have been. But, life has a funny way of falling apart. Just when we feel things are going well, something comes and crushes us. It beats us into the ground until we feel as if we can no longer stand it.

Relena did not know how to feel. She loved him and hated him for all the pain he had caused. They had all warned him about coming to see him today, but she felt as if she had to. She needed to speak to him, to tell him how she felt, to express how much she loved him, but also to express the hate and contempt she felt towards him.

"Are you ready?" asked a cell guard.

"Yes," she replied quietly as she was led towards the cell door.

The guard punched in several numbers on a keypad. There was a beep, and Relena heard the door become unlatched. The guard stepped aside and let her pass through.

"Let me know when you are ready," said the guard as Relena passed through into the cell. She simply nodded her head in reply.

Relena heard the cell door slam behind her. She looked at the ground. There was no point in announcing her presence. He knew she was there. She heard him stand up and walk over towards her in slow, steady steps. Relena could feel his presence surround her. She could smell his musty scent, and feel the heat from his body.

Although she didn't think she could, Relena found the courage to lift her head to meet his face. The sight of him shocked her. His hair was messy, more so than usual, and his face rough from several days without a razor. But the most shocking thing of all was his eyes. The Prussian blue orbs possessed such sadness and remorse. So many emotions were burning inside their icy blue depths, and for a moment, Relena found herself lost and wanting to reach out to him to ease the pain he was tolerating. But at the sound of her name, Relena's mind flashed back to that fateful day when fate had a cruel way of laying itself out…

**{-}**

_It was against Milliardo's wishes, but Relena could not stand it any longer. She needed Heero Yuy, yearned for him day and night. He was the one thing that would fill the emptiness in her world. She could not understand why her brother would oppose such a match._

_It had all been innocent love; nothing dishonorable or distasteful. They had done nothing wrong, yet Milliardo still objected. He screamed at Relena and argued with her day in and day out of her duties as a leader and a woman. But, Relena refused, and let her stubbornness and pride get the best of her. _

_ Heero saw her whenever he could. He snuck into her room and night; and into her office during the day, just to get the chance to see her, talk to her, and be with her. It was all innocent love. They did not think anything could ruin it. At the time, they did not think it would become their downfall._

_ Then one night, everything changed. Milliardo had saw Heero embracing Relena inside her office earlier in the day. He argued and fought with her. He screamed of her ignorance. He said the whole thing was merely an infatuation and she was blind to see her heart would be broken. _

_ But Relena was insisted and stubborn, she would not listen to him. She turned from him and she began to walk away, but Milliardo grabbed her roughly. Relena cried out. He had never treated her in such a manner. Milliardo was her brother, he would never hurt her._

_ "Be his whore Relena!" he cried at her as he shook her roughly._

_ "We have done nothing wrong!" she replied._

_ "I'll be damned if I let him dishonor you or take you from me in any way!"_

_ "Milliardo, please! I am still your sister, and I will be forever!"_

_ He stopped shaking her and she feel to the floor in a fit of sobs. He turned away from her and began to walk away. But her broken voice called out to him, begging him to come back,_

_ "Why should you hate him so?"_

_ "He is not trustworthy."_

_ "Will you not trust my judgment then? As your sister? Please Milliardo why can you not trust me?"_

_ He would not look at her. His face was poised in deep thought. He would be damned if he took her from him. He would corrupt her and distract her from her duties, no that he had not all ready. Heero Yuy was nothing more than a menace. He was cold and emotionless and Milliardo believed the only real reason he was courting his sister was to gain power and influence inside the Preventers. Milliardo had his reasons to disapprove of Heero Yuy. He need not listen to anyone else. He was entitled to his own opinion. _

_ "I trust you, Relena, but I do not trust him. It ends now. You know very well he is distracting you from your duties. Has he given you any promises of his affections?"_

_ "I love him Milliardo…"_

_ "But is the feeling mutual?" he asked as he spun around sharply. He looked at his sister with a cold glare. Tears were streaming down her face. "Has he made any promises to you Relena? Has he spoken to you of his love for you? Has he even told you if he's loved you?"_

_ Relena glanced down at the ground in shame. She knew where this conversation was leading,_

_ "No, he has not."_

_ "It ends tonight Relena," replied Milliardo. "This foolish infatuation must stop." He walked towards the door and stopped short before he exited the room. "I love you Relena, I will not see him break your heart." He left. _

**{-}**

_ It had all been innocent love, but now it was about to end. Relena stood inside of her room and waited. He would be there any moment now. He always came to her in the shadows of the night. Tonight would be different though. _

_ She saw Heero come in as she lay quietly in her bed. He knew she was not sleeping. So he approached her, as he always did, sat down beside her and touched her hand. She sat up at looked directly into his eyes. He made a move to kiss her but he stopped short when he saw tears beginning to form in her sapphire orbs._

_ "Relena, what's wrong?"_

_ "Do you love me Heero Yuy?" she asked pleadingly. _

_ He stood up and walked away from her. He was vexed at her sudden perplexity. Did she need to question his feelings for her?_

_ "Do you doubt my affections towards you?" he replied coldly._

_ "No… but there is something I need to know. Milliardo…"_

_ "What about him?" snapped Heero._

_ "Milliardo has been speaking to me. People are talking about my relationship with you Heero. Questioning whether or not it will last…"_

_ "Let them talk, it does not concern us…"_

_ "How can you say that? Of course it concerns us!" exclaimed Relena. She moved off the bed and approached him. She touched his arm lightly and spun him around to face her. _

_ "I love you Heero Yuy. I do not care what others think. But, I do care what you think. In the time we have been together, I have not asked you for anything but your companionship. Yet now, I must ask you for something else. It is something I most desperately need to know, Heero! I am asking you for your love! Now, please answer my question…do you love me?"_

_ Heero looked deep into her eyes. She was pleading with him. Begging with him to say yes. But, how could he when he was so unsure. He had never known love, so how could he trust this was it? His affections towards Relena were deep. He had pledged his life to her several times. Why did she need to know right now, right this very moment? He looked deep into his heart searching for the right words, for an answer he prayed would give her comfort and assurance of his feelings towards her. _

_ "Relena…" he began as he drew her near to him, "I can not tell you how deep my feelings go…"_

_ A knock on the door interrupted them. But, before Heero could hide, Milliardo burst through the bedroom door and stopped abruptly. He saw his sister and her lover embracing each other. Murderous thoughts seethed through his mind and his felt his face grow red with anger._

_ "Yuy step away at this instant!"_

_ Heero stood firm. He refused to leave her side. Relena grew fearful and shrunk slightly behind Heero. _

_ "Milliardo…" she began, but the look his eyes directed towards her silenced her. _

_He walked towards the couple and glared directly at Heero. _

_ "Get out, Yuy, and don't ever come back. You are never to be seen near my sister again, understood?"_

_ "Why don't you ask Relena how she feels about the whole matter?" retorted Heero._

_ "Heero, please, both of you, do not make me choose between my brother and my…"_

_ "Your what?" asked Milliardo. "He does not love you Relena! Ask him, right here and right now! He does not love you!"_

_ Heero went forward with a start but Relena stepped between the two of them quickly. She looked at Heero with begging eyes, praying that he might say the words she needed to hear._

_ "Heero?"_

_ He could not look at her. He could not even begin to speak. He saw tears begin to stream down her face and he knew he had hurt her deeply, but to lie to her would only hurt her even more. _

_ "I care for you a great deal Relena, but…"_

_ "You do not love her," finished Milliardo satisfactorily. _

_ "I do not know…" answered Heero._

_"If you truly loved my sister you would know!"_

_"Damn you Zechs," seethed Heero under his breath. Milliardo walked towards Heero rapidly and began to shove him towards the balcony,_

_"Leave at this instant!" he cried forcefully._

_"Milliardo, stop it!" screamed Relena. She tried to step in between the two men but Milliardo shoved her roughly out of the way. At this, Heero became enraged and the fight began. The two of them exchanged blows and wrestled to the ground. Relena watched in a slight daze. All she could do was watch in terror. She screamed for the two of them to stop, but her efforts were to no avail. The last thing she remembered was Milliardo drawing his gun. The two grappled for control over the weapon, then, one shot was fired…_

**{-}**

"Relena…" began Heero as he reached out to touch her. However, she moved away. She made her way across the cell and towards one of the pair of chairs the guard had set up in the room. She sat down and watched as Heero sat across from her.

"Relena, please, listen to me," Heero began once more, but Relena only grew agitated and stood up again. She turned her back to him and stood there trying to regain her strength and confidence. When she thought she had found it, she turned around to face him once more. But her mind flashed back again to that night and she relived the nightmare she was trying so desperately to forget,

_The shot rang out and the entire palace was awakened. Relena screamed and ran over to the two men who were lying on top of each other. Heero stood slowly and took several steps back. Relena screamed at the sight of her brother's bloody body. _

_ The guards ran in and immediately took Heero into custody. Relena cried out for them to leave him but she was torn in two. They had to carry her out of the room as she screamed and cried out for both her dead brother and her lover…_

As the memory faded, tears began to well up in her eyes. Relena looked at Heero and hatred began to swell up inside of her. She rushed towards him and began to pound on his chest with all her might and screamed what she felt inside of her,

"Killer! Killer! Killer! Killer!" she sobbed as she struck him again and again. Heero stood still and tolerates the onslaught. Soon, the blows began to weaken and she sunk slowly to the ground, sobbing her eyes out. Heero crouched down beside her and lifted her chin to look into her eyes.

"Relena, I am so sorry…"

"Do not be sorry," she said sharply as she stood up to move away from him. "I only came here to tell you goodbye before they…"

"Do not speak of it," he said coldly.

She nodded and sat down in the chair once more, feeling better after letting out some emotion. Heero sat down across from her and he began to speak,

"I know I can never apologize for what happened, Relena. I know I will pay for what I have done and I intend to. But, I want you to know I had no intention of killing Milliardo. I was not trying to pull the trigger…it was an accident."

Relena simply nodded her head. She knew he spoke the truth, but that did not change the hurt she felt. Relena glared at him with cold eyes. Heero was beginning to despair.

"Relena, before I leave, I want you to know something. For all my life, I believed I was meant to walk alone on this earth. No one ever cared about my well being or my feelings, that is, until I met you. What I shared with you, was wonderful Relena. And I am willing to give up my life knowing that at least I shared something with someone. It was perfect…"

"Things fall apart," replied Relena with a blank look on her face. "Nothing is meant to last forever, Heero, even though at one time I believed it would."

"Relena…"

"How can I love a man who does not love me?" insisted Relena as a single tear began to make its way down her cheek. "How can I love the man who murdered my brother?"

Heero dropped his head into his hands. He had never felt such emotions in all his life. There was a heavy ache deep inside his chest. He lifted his head and spoke to her,

"I will only tell you this: My heart breaks knowing I have lost the only person who ever cared for me. And if I could make it up to her, I would, but I can give her nothing. I can only let her know of the great and deep remorse I feel..."

He paused to catch his breath. He tried to gather his wits about him. His walls crumbled down,

"You claim to love me Relena; if your love is so great then will you forgive me for the pain I never meant to inflict upon you?"

Relena stared at him blankly. There was no emotion or sparkle in her eyes. Just nothing at all. Heero nodded his head and stood up to turn away from her. He would not let her see him tear apart.

"Goodbye Relena."

Without looking at him she stood up and went to the door. It beeped and opened. She was about to walk out when she heard his voice once more, although it was barely above a whisper,

"I love you."

Relena stopped at his words and turned to stare at him. Heero turned around with pain in his eyes. Tears began to silently fall down her cheeks and she walked over to him and placed a hand upon his rough cheek. Relena watched as a single tear made its way down Heero Yuy's face. At that moment she yielded and held him tightly to her as they embraced for the last time.

**{-}**

His execution had been set. He had been found guilty of murder despite Relena's plea for an appeal. Today was the day.

Relena sat in her room upon her rocking chair. She stared at the clock. It was almost time. Her mind plummeted through the past as she struggled to find the answer for all the sorrow and pain. It had all been innocent love, she did not understand why things had fallen apart but they had.

She thought of Milliardo and of Heero. The only two men she would ever truly love had been taken from her. She would abide her time alone in her own confinement. From now on, she did not wish to be disturbed. She was alone, nothing could heal the past.

She looked at the clock again and tears silently fell down her face. She simply curled up into a ball and wrapped herself into a blanket. She would hide for as long as she could.

**{-}**

Silently, two figures watched from the trees just outside Relena's balcony. They saw the girl ensconced in her chair. One of them started to move forward to get a closer look. His Prussian blue eyes were wrought with pain and torment.

"When will you go back to her?" asked the other man in a prison uniform.

"You can never go back again, not to the way things were," replied Heero solemnly.

The other man sighed and pulled off his cap to reveal a long flowing braid that reached down to his waist.

"You can not leave her alone though? She believes you are dead," stated Duo Maxwell.

"I know, but time heals all things," said Heero.

"You will not regret it?" asked Duo.

Heero sighed as a tear slid down his cheek,

"My only regret is not knowing I loved her sooner."

Duo nodded his head and began to climb down the tree. Heero took one last longing look at Relena's form. Time would heal all things. He needed to heal himself for a while also. You can not change the threads of a painful past. Only with time could you heal to build a new and hopeful future. He would go back to her, but not yet. Heero climbed down the tree silently and disappeared into the night.

**AN: The end. Very angsty and a cliffhanger I know. But I promise there will be a sequel. Email: Wildrose1404earthlink.net **


End file.
